Leong Mun Wai retracts statement made in podcast after Speaker sought clarification
SINGAPORE – Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai has retracted a statement he made on a podcast that questioned the impartiality of Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng.
At the start of the Parliament sitting on July 2, Mr Seah told the House that Mr Leong had withdrawn remarks he had made during an appearance on the Yah Lah But podcast that had cast aspersions on the Speaker’s fairness in calling on MPs to ask follow-up questions.
Near the beginning of the episode, published on May 14, the podcast host had said: “For (the parliamentary debates) that we were there, whenever the Speaker says ‘okay, any questions’, you’re one of the first to put your hands up.”
After chuckling for a while, Mr Leong had responded: “And one of the last to be called.”
Mr Seah told the House on July 2 that the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) NCMP’s remarks were a gross misrepresentation of the proceedings of Parliament.
“The statement cast aspersions on my fairness and impartiality in calling members,” said Mr Seah. “This is a reflection of my character as the Speaker, touching on my conduct of parliamentary proceedings.”
Records from the Hansard between August 2023 and May 2024 showed there was no basis for Mr Leong’s statement, said Mr Seah.
“It showed that Mr Leong was called for supplementary questions and clarifications earlier than other members on many occasions, and that I had called him more than once on repeated occasions within the same item of business,” said Mr Seah, who was elected to the post in August 2023.
Mr Seah said that after he wrote to Mr Leong on June 22, the NCMP had replied that his statement was a “tongue-in-cheek response and a light-hearted comment” made at the start of the interview to lighten the mood of the podcast.
Mr Leong, a former secretary-general of the PSP, said he had no intention whatsoever to cast aspersions on Mr Seah’s impartiality in Parliament, and that he would put up a Facebook post to “remove any misunderstandings”.
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In the June 25 Facebook post, Mr Leong reiterated what he had told Mr Seah, and added that the “Speaker has, on various occasions, called me ahead of other members”.
Mr Leong also requested a meeting with Mr Seah at the next parliamentary seating in July to clarify the matter in person. The two men met on June 26 at Mr Seah’s office in Parliament. At that meeting, Mr Leong said Mr Seah had been fair to him in Parliament. Mr Seah thanked Mr Leong for his clarification, and asked Mr Leong to submit it in writing.
On the same day, Mr Seah said he sent Mr Leong an e-mail asking for a written statement, in which Mr Leong should apologise for having given the misleading impression that he would be one of the last to be called whenever the Speaker asked for questions.
The implication was that Mr Leong was somehow treated differently from other MPs seeking to ask questions, and that the Speaker was not fair and impartial, said Mr Seah.
Mr Leong replied on June 28 that his remark was a light-hearted and unscripted comment made at the start of the podcast interview, and that he had no intention of casting aspersions on the impartiality of the Speaker.
On June 30, Mr Seah wrote to Mr Leong again, saying that the NCMP’s clarification did not contain the apology needed to close the matter.
On July 1, Mr Leong responded that “it would not be accurate to make an apology that suggests an intention to mislead listeners”.
But to bring the matter to a close, he would retract his words on the Yah Lah But podcast on being one of the last MPs to be called. He also confirmed that he had no intention of implying that he was somehow treated differently from other MPs, or that Mr Seah had treated him unfairly during parliamentary proceedings.
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Mr Seah said on July 2 that he considers the matter closed, after giving “careful and due consideration to the totality of Mr Leong’s explanations”.
Mr Seah told the House that MPs know what takes place in Parliament, and to later say something different, even in jest, would be to wilfully misrepresent the proceedings. “The misrepresentation is made more serious if it reflects on the character of a fellow member or the Chair,” he said. “As honourable members, we should not be engaging in such conduct.”
Mr Seah warned all MPs going forward that these are serious matters, and such acts of contempt should not be repeated.
The Speaker noted that this is not the first Parliament-related incident pertaining to Mr Leong.
In July 2023, Mr Leong and the PSP had apologised and removed a Facebook post and video about the Ridout Road matter, and acknowledged that these had created a misleading impression about proceedings in Parliament.
A heated exchange between Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and Mr Leong in March 2023 ended with Mr Leong withdrawing an allegation over a bribery case linked to Keppel Offshore & Marine. He also apologised to former Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin.